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Goblins
Goblins are a short-lived, uncivilized people, who have small, child-like statures and feral characteristics. They are found all across the globe in environments of all types, inserting themselves as a scavenging, predatory nuisance into whatever ecosystem they come across. They have a particular love of humanoid settlements and the garbage and livestock they produce. Goblins have builds similar to hobbits but the similarities stop there. Their skin colour ranges from green to grey to orange, depending on the particular habitat they have grown up in. Their teeth are fanged, and they possess uncannily large heads, eyes and ears. They grow no taller than 3 feet, and they only live between 10-15 years, if they manage to survive that long. Scavengers and small-game predators, goblins will eat just about anything they can find that might possibly be edible. They have base magical talent, and it is a rare goblin indeed that possesses the intellectual faculties for learned magic. Goblins usually live and travel in large groups to aid in their survival; paradoxically, they are highly prone to violence and aggression, especially against humans and domesticated animals, despite their general lack of natural weapons. Destructive and obtrusive, they steal, smash, burn, consume and otherwise disturb anything they bump into, living in an area as long as they can find food to support themselves. Goblins have some passing similarities to hobgoblins, particularly to young hobgoblin children. It is thought that the two evolved from a shared arctic ancestor long in the past, giving both species their remarkable environmental adaptability, their close appearance, and the similarities in their native languages. As hobgoblins were the first race to begin cross-ocean colonization, it is believed that goblins snuck onto their ships and spread with them, all too ready to invade more hospitable environments. All hobgoblins find mention of the similarity to these pests to be personally offensive. Goblins are not quite civilized, though they show sparks of higher intelligence from time to time. They are barely capable of formal language, as grammar seems to be beyond them. They tend to use a simplified, bastardized tongue vaguely resembling Solen, or whatever human language is used nearby. They do not partake in formal agriculture, though they are known to keep pets, and they are usually capable of making and understanding only the most basic of tools, clothes and structures. Goblins have no formal sense of religion, but some have been seen performing almost ritualistic actions regarding fire, and it is not hard to convince goblins to partake in cult-like activities. There has been more than one initiative taken by people to eradicate goblins, but due to their small size, propensity for hiding and extremely high breeding rate, these efforts have never been successful. People generally just do their best to keep their numbers down and away from inhabited areas. Bugbears Every once in a while, a goblin is born with a genetic predisposition to be significantly larger and more intelligent than average. This mutation is relatively common, and the individuals that possess it are colloquially known as bugbears. Bugbears tend to find the life of goblins banal, but they lose none of their own brutish, feral nature; they usually either set off on their own, taking up the solitary life of a hermit, hunter or highway robber, or they easily maneuver themselves into leadership of local goblin tribes. Goblins, owing to their own lack of acuity, have a tendency to not view bugbears as one of their own, despite that actually being what they are. However, they recognize their comparative skill and power, not to mention the family resemblance, and are far more likely to accept a bugbear into their tribe than any other "longshank". Though bugbears are unlikely to hold the titles of shamans or tribe-leaders, goblin-only vocations, goblins are more than happy enough to call them war-leaders or heroes, and it is not uncommon to find a bugbear in charge of small raiding parties, splinter groups from local tribes, or other goblin bands causing trouble for other, more civilized locals.Category:Race